FIVE MINUTES LEFT.
FOUR MINUTES LEFT.
THREE MINUTES LEFT.
TWO MINUTES LEFT.
ONE MINUTE LEFT.
Huge defensive pack mark by Norf twenty metres out.
30 SECONDS.
Port forward pocket!
That is a legit win, especially coming off last week where they lost on the siren to the other top-of-the-ladder team.
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Dudley 50 hit-outs and a solitary game-trailing 1 disposal…
Well done to the umps for letting the teams (99%) slog it out on their own.
Footscray this year
- 28-42 (-4)
- 33-34 (-1)
- 54-15 (+39) ← I was at this game, and Norf were woeful
- 33-36 (-3)
- 15-43 (-28)
- 26-31 (-5)
- 38-43 (-5)
Five losses by less than a goal, only ahead of Darebin on the ladder.
I’m one of the few people who actually watched this game, and as stated it was quite dramatic and both teams were going hard as.
The Hun have written a piece on this; I’m sure the comments section is classy.
Scores are down this year… but overwhelmingly because the really high scores have been much rarer (us, the Hawks, and the Demons were crushing everyone last year, and the Saints did alright too). It’s not because, as in the current example, the low scores are even lower (the Hun never did a piece of us beating Footscray 98-0).
The three seasons below are not quite comparable due to different timing of the seasons and overlap with the AFLW seasons (and 2023 being only half-done, of course).
| Percentile | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | 7 | 6 | 8 |
| 20% | 16 | 14 | 17 |
| 35% | 25 | 22 | 21 |
| 50% | 31 | 31 | 28 |
| 65% | 41 | 41 | 34 |
| 80% | 52 | 52 | 43 |
| 95% | 70 | 85 | 59 |
| Average | 34 | 35 | 31 |
| Std Dev | 20 | 23 | 19 |
EFC personally have a lot of work to do, though!
| Year | EFC Ave For | EFC Ave Against |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 21 | 52 |
| 2019 | 34 | 36 |
| 2021 | 34 | 25 |
| 2022 | 64 | 16 |
| 2023 | 25 | 31 |
| Grand Total | 38 | 31 |
(Minus the FCFC game, our average against is currently the same as 2021.)
Brendan Rhodes’ speculation for the second half of the season.
Pies: 12-2 (1st) ← win 7/7? yeah nah!
Hawks: 10-3-1 (2nd) ← win 6
Cats: 10-4 (3rd) <–win 5
EFC: 9-4-1 (4th) ← win 5
Port: 8-6 (5th) ← win 3
FCFC: 8-6 (6th) ← win 4
Saints: 8-6 (7th) ← win 4
Casey: 6-8 (8th) ← win 4
Willy: 5-9 (9th) ← win 2
Norf: 5-9 (10th) ← win 1
Dogs: 2-12 (11th) ← win 1
Darebin: 0-14 (12th) ← win? yeah nah!
…
(5th, 4-2-1, 81.48%)
RESULTS: drew BOX; lost SS 25; lost CAR 54; def CAS 2; def COL 16; def WIL 9; def SS 12
TO COME: BOX (BHCO); GEE (Hangar); DAR (La Trobe); NM (Hangar); CAS (Casey); PM (ETU); WB (Hangar)
SCORES: Paige Scott 4.3, Grace Dicker 3.3, Maddi Wilson 3.2
DISPOSALS: Alana Barba 17.8, Joanne Doonan 17.5, Courtney Ugle 14.6
MARKS: Eloise Chaston 3.3, Sophie Molan 3.3, Courtney Ugle 3.0
TACKLES: Grace Dicker 9.9, Alana Barba 7.0, Renee Tierney 5.5
HITOUTS: Megan Ryan 15.6, Eloise Chaston 1.8, Manaia Huta 0.3, Sophie Molan 0.3
BEST WIN: Essendon 4.13 (37) def Casey Demons 5.5 (35), NEC Hangar, Round 4: Undefeated reigning premier to winless after three rounds, the dreaded words “premiership hangover” were on the tip of the tongue. While the kicking for goal was dreadful, the Bombers hung on against a fast-finishing opponent and have since strung together four straight wins.
WORST LOSS: Essendon 2.2 (14) lost to Carlton 10.8 (68), NEC Hangar, Round 3: The Blues led by 18 points at three quarter-time but nobody could have predicted what would happen next. The Bombers conceded seven SCORES to one in the last quarter to take a percentage hit they still haven’t recovered from.
SUMMARY: Took a while to put the Ferrari into gear and it is still not roaring at full power, despite four consecutive wins. That loss to Carlton sounded alarm bells but they have found a way since to get things back on track. The Bombers don’t appear to have the depth of last year, but when they put close to their best team on the park they will be more than a handful for anyone.
Mid-season review:
By Blake Gaffiero
Fresh off a fifth consecutive VFLW victory, Essendon co-captain Courtney Ugle already had her reasons to be excited ahead of her side’s crunch clash with Geelong this Saturday.
But with the club again preparing to celebrate the contributions of its Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander people ahead of the AFL’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round, Ugle told Essendon FC this week always feels more special than most.
Ugle, who made history this season alongside Mia-Rae Clifford when named as the club’s first ever Indigenous co-captains, believes it’s a combination of pride in herself, her heritage, and the club that stands out.
“I’ve been really lucky to be involved in Sir Doug Nicholls Round since the inception of women’s football at Essendon [in 2018],” Ugle said.
“I’m obviously really proud to be an Aboriginal person, and the magnitude behind having the two first ever Indigenous co-captains speaks volumes to what I’m trying to do as a leader.”
Ugle, who has already proven herself as a leader on a plethora of fronts both on and off the field since joining the Bombers, hopes her platform as skipper can provide inspiration for people in the broader Indigenous community.
“[I want to] show a lot of young Aboriginal girls and boys that representation is important, but we can do and be these things,” Ugle said.
“The club has been unreal in acknowledging and showcasing our Aboriginal people, and I’ve felt nothing but love.”
This weekend, Ugle will be focused on adding to the rich vein of form that has seen the Dons catapult into the top four at the halfway mark of the season, but for now is more than happy to soak in the celebrations of the week.
“I’m really excited to see what happens throughout the week, getting around the whole club in the events leading up,” Ugle said.
“It’s my favourite week.”
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The remaining VFL(W) rounds have been announced. Our round 14 game and presumably any home finals will be at Windy Hill.
The VFL team is not double-heading that, with their first WH game the next day on July 2.
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